KidsPeace is the nation's largest provider of care services for children in crisis situations. More than 2,000 children facing everything from serious depression to eating disorders to abuse are referred to the organization every day to receive counseling, educational services, treatment and more.

While treating these children is a challenge, KidsPeace discovered a challenge of another sort not long ago. Since it offers so many programs to so many children, Kids-Peace didn't really have a simple way to explain its services to the bevy of parents, counselors, health-care professionals, school officials and others it does business with. In the past, the not-for-profit organization relied on a library of brochures, magazines, videotapes and one-to-one question and answer sessions to describe its mission. It was a bulky and time-consuming process that even then didn't always adequately describe the breadth of KidsPeace's services.

Knowing there had to be a better way to deliver the information, KidsPeace Director of Creative Services Bernie O'Connor turned to San Mateo, Calif.-based Eloquent to streamline its materials. Eloquent specializes in developing rich media communications services for companies and organizations that are looking for simple ways to disseminate information to clients and others. "KidsPeace is a very interesting example," says Eloquent Vice President of Marketing Jane Buele, "because it is a really good case study in not being able to fully communicate what it is they could do or how they could do it. They had reams and reams of videotapes and testimonies and documents and really had no way to deliver it in a way that was navigable and accessible."

Eloquent was able to combine all Kids- Peace's marketing materials onto one CD-ROM that can be sent to the target audience for easy viewing. Where KidsPeace previously had stagnant brochures and VHS cassettes, it now has hypertext and live-time video. The Eloquent system has even been incorporated into the KidsPeace Web page, www.kidspeace.com, so those who need even more information can access it online.

Better yet, says O'Connor, when he sends someone the CD, he knows the person is getting all the information KidsPeace has to offer. "It's kind of the Holy Grail for integration of all communications," O'Connor says. "Questions that are raised can be answered through hyperlink text, and can be supplemented with video and articles from our magazine," which has also been incorporated onto the CD-ROM.
KidsPeace unveiled the Eloquent technology at a medical seminar in October, O'Connor says. So far, the feedback has been positive. "It's certainly simplified my data management," he says, and adds that it's made the salespeople's lives easier, as well. "Instead of carrying around five VHS cassettes and 35 brochures and a year's worth of our magazine, it's all on CD-ROM. And they can refer to it, of course, anywhere."